I left the beer tasting around 12:30, having stopped drinking over 90 minutes earlier. I headed home, and had made it most of the 20-minute drive, when I got to a stop sign and saw two kids (late teens?) on bicycles pop out, one right in front of me. As for the other, I heard a bump toward the back of the car, and down he went. The guy in front tried to open my door to get me to come out for his friend, but I stopped him, then foolishly parked my car and got out to assess damage. The guy in front talked with me some and then the other one came over and accused me of hitting him. I said I didn't, and asked him how I could have done so with anything other than the front of the car. He asked if I was calling him a liar, and I said no, I was asking how it could be, that's all. Suddenly he punched me hard in the face, and I must have passed out briefly, because I don't remember them taking my wallet. A car pulled up and checked on me, and called 911. The cops showed up right away, several cars worth, and they pursued the bicyclists. They nabbed a couple of suspects, and I was able to identify one, but I wasn't as sure on the other, the one who actually decked me. Other than my wallet, nothing appeared missing.
An ambulance offered to take me to the hospital, and I took a little while to decide, before concluding that my jaw hurt too much to just go home. So after a three hour wait I finally got to see a doctor, and another couple of hours later they did a CAT Scan on me. They discovered two broken bones on my face, one on the side of the face and the other the lower part of the eye socket. Pain meds, antibiotics, opthamologist, oral surgeon, and not blowing my nose for six weeks await me. Again, all told it could have been worse (more damage to me, more stuff stolen), and I'm not nearly as depressed about it as perhaps I should be. Then again, I had several hours to get used to the whole thing -- when I told Kathy about it this morning, she was completely stressed, worried, freaked, and apologetic. It's not easy to feel helpless on behalf of someone you love. Right now she's at the pharmacist getting my meds, and once she gets back and I take some, I'm finally going to sleep. Sadly, no DC United game for me today.
Depending on how coherent this sounds when I wake up I may revise this, but I figured I'd get the news out for those who want to know.
